Asclepias tuberosa

Description

Asclepias tuberosa, or Butterfly Milkweed is a 1-2 foot dazzling member of the Milkweed family. Butterfly Milkweed leaves are lance-shaped, and its flowers are a brilliant orange. Preferring dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun, Butterfly Milkweed appears from June to August. The seeds grow in pods, called follicles, forming in late summer. The seeds attach to a plume of small white hairs, allowing them to travel in the wind. Butterfly Milkweed’s deep taproot is essential to its survival, meaning it can’t handle being transfered or cut off from its roots well. It is a great butterfly-attracting perennial as the name suggests, serving as the larval food plant for the Monarch butterfly.